Odah versus NLC: NIC President suggests out-of-court settlement

President, National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NIC), Justice Babatunde Adejumo, has advised the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to “put its house in order” so as to effectively pursue the interest of its members.

Justice Adejumo, who presided over the suit filed by Comrade John Odah challenging the alleged termination of his appointment as General Secretary of the NLC for which he is claiming N500 million as damages for defamation of character, stated that the NLC, as a central labour organisation with several unions as affiliates, must be able to put its house in order when things are going wrong.

Justice Adejumo admonished the NLC and all unionists to always explore the possibility of an amicable settlement of issues so as not to fragment trade unions and as a result weaken them in the struggle for decent work environment or the right of workers.

He said since industrial courts across the world were set up to enhance smooth and harmonious labour relations so as to create the environment for economic wellbeing and development of society and not as a punitive institution, it was imperative for the court to draw the attention of the counsel on both sides as well as claimant and defendants in the suit to the provisions of Section 20 of the National Industrial Court Act (NICA) (2006).

“I invoke the provisions of Section 20 of NICA (2006) and advise or encourage the parties to hasten amicable settlement of the dispute therein. Counsel on all sides are, therefore, encouraged to do their best so that the matter may be resolved amicably,” Justice Adejumo stated.

For the first time since the case was mentioned on Wednesday, November 30, 2011, all the defendants appeared before the court along with their legal representations which came from three different chambers.

The Chambers of Mr Tayo Oyetibo (SAN) represents the first and fourth defendants; that is, the NLC and Emma Ugboaja, the chambers of Mr Adetola (SAN) represents the second defendant, Abdulwahed Omar while Mr Ayokunle Erim represents the third defendant, Owei Lakemfa.

The embattled General Secretary of the NLC had on Wednesday, November 30, 2011 gone before the National Industrial Court sitting in Garki, Area 11 asking it to, among other things, make “a declaration that the purported termination of his appointment as General Secretary of NLC on the pretext of on-going re-organisation in Congress is a ruse, reckless, manifested in bad faith, unlawful and illegal as well as a pungent anti-thesis of what Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) stands for and represents, and as such the letter ought to be set aside and/or invalidated”.

While January 18, 19 and 20, 2012 were set aside for accelerated hearing of the case, all the counsel to the first, second, third and fourth defendants pleaded for more time to properly file their defence as they were not able to do so due to the industrial strike as a result of the withdrawal of subsidy.

Justice Adejumo also urged the two parties to adopt and file written witnesses’ statements of claim and defence on oath so as to fast track the hearing and adjourned the case to Wednesday, February 29 and Thursday, March 1, 2012 for hearing.

Meanwhile, speaking after the adjournment of the matter, counsel to Comrade John Odah, Mr Pius Akubo (SAN), said Justice Adejumo’s approach on the possible amicable resolution of the matter was a wise counsel. According to Mr Akubo (SAN), “by Article Three of the constitution of the NLC, labour is obliged as its fundamental objectives to defend and promote the interest of its workers and to have underhandedly disengaged a foremost labour leader in the position of General Secretary of the congress is a bad precedent and therefore if the parties can come together to settle this matter amicably, the better for everybody”.

According to Mr. Akubo (SAN), the NLC ought to be an example, a role model in dealing with its employees. “Here is a man who headed the Secretariat in his capacity as the General Secretary and who has spent almost a quarter of a century in the union’s struggle and only for the President of the NLC to wake up one morning to ask the General Secretary to proceed on accumulated leave when he had converted the leave to cash payments. You can’t do that,” said the counsel.

He said his client is hopeful that with the renewed admonition of the court, reason would prevail so that they can come to terms amicably.

Mr Akubo said any other step other than Comrade Odah’s re-instatement will affect labour’s capacity to confront government on wrong doings as it affects the interest of workers since it will lack any “moral justification to pursue that line of agitation anymore if it cannot show good example by treating its own workers in the area of fair hearing, equity, justice and fairness.”